Purpose: The paper presents a brief history of electronic licensing initiatives before
considering current practices for managing licences to electronic resources. The
intention was to obtain a detailed understanding of the requirements needed for a
registry of electronic licences that would enable usage terms and conditions to be
presented to end-users at point of use.
Approach: Two extensive focus groups were held, each comprising representatives
from the main stakeholder groups. These structured events considered existing and
ongoing issues and approaches towards licence management and investigated a range
of ‘use-cases’ where potential usages for a licence registry were outlined and
discussed.
Findings: The results form part of a requirements gathering and analysis process
which will inform the development of a registry of electronic licences. This work
forms part of the JISC-funded Registry of Electronic Licences (RELI) project. The
paper finds that there are many complexities when dealing with electronic licences
such as licence specificity, licence interpretation, definitions of authorised users and
dissemination of usage terms and conditions.
Implications: These issues and others are considered and the impact on a subsequent
registry of electronic licences is discussed. It is clear from the findings that there is a
real and immediate need for a licence registry.
Originality: The paper provides a rich picture of the concerns and practices adopted
both when managing licences and ensuring conformance with licences to electronic
resources. The findings have enabled the scope of a licence registry to be determined.
The registry is currently under development.